MANILA, March 18 — Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA) Chairman Francis Tolentino urged the public on Sunday to help the agency in its crackdown against illegal jeepney terminals in the metropolis.

Last week, Tolentino disarmed a barangay tanod of his truncheon in connection with the campaign to unclog traffic and dismantle illegal terminals near the Guadalupe Commercial Center in Barangay Guadalupe Viejo, Makati City.

During the MMDA's weekly radio program Sunday, Tolentino admitted that the agency could not do it alone even if the situation at Guadalupe Nuevo has considerably improved with jeepneys banned from parking in front of the ABC Mall in Guadalupe, Makati.

Sa Guadalupe, after ng kampanya natin, ay medyo maayos na ang daloy ng trapiko, pero sana tumulong din ang publiko (In Guadalupe, after our drive, the flow of traffic is back to normal, but it's better if the public would also help). I think citizen action will make the proper and right impact. We're hoping to have citizen action to combat illegal terminals, Tolentino said.

For one, he said the public should urge or petition their local officials, especially at the barangay level, to do something to address the problem as they are the ones who know the area well and the people living there, even those behind the illegal terminal operation.